Re-Ring


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By XNoctemNacimur - 16 Years Ago
Hello, newbie here.



I have a 59 edsel with a 292 i pulled it from an untimely grave in a retired lumberyard just shy of a year ago. I have recently been chasing down a low compression issue in the #2 cylinder. the exact specs were 30 psi in #2 and 90 psi in the rest. bleed down test confirmed that it was losing pressure into the crankcase.



i stripped the head off, pulled the piston and found nothing. the piston was sound the rings looked ok and the cylinder was smooth as glass.



so i'm running with a couple different theories that all have the same fix.



1) a stuck ring that popped loose when I pulled it free of the block.



2) a over heated ring that lost tension ( i heard this could happen with a head gasket installed upside down, though the gasket appears to have been installed correctly...)



3) a half-assed rebuild in which the cylinder was not honed/ cross hatched. ( evidence for which include smooth cylinder wall and flawless rod bearings. not to mention the broken bolt that held the rockers that was never fixed till I bought it.. Crazy )



That being said I'm looking at re-ringing it. shopping around I've found that my local carquest can put me together a kit for 240 excluding rod bearings and i'm not sure of the brands used. however eBay has a kit that includes hastings rings, rol gaskets and king rod bearings for roughly 125 shipped...



so my question to the guru's is 2 part,

Am I barking up the wrong tree with my diagnosis? could i have missed something?

are the kits a case of you get what you pay for or are the brands mentioned up to snuff for a stock Saturday night cruiser? (even though its not fel-pro)



and for the hat trick. i ordered the Y block book looking for torque specs, ect, that i need to get this back together. but i also know there are a few errors in the book is there anything i need to know?
By crenwelge - 16 Years Ago
Is the piston possibly over sized and someone put a standard ring on it? Take a ring off of a piston and put it in the cylinder and measure the gap. If you just want a casual driver, you can probably hone the one cylinder and put new rings in it. I prefer buying NOS parts. There are lots on eBay. Many of the package deals these days are off shore stuff of uncertain quality.
By mctim64 - 16 Years Ago
I think for what you want to do the eBay kit would be OK.  ROL gaskets, although not the best, are good enough. I have used them before.  King bearings the same story, probably made in Israel.  Hastings rings are good quality and if they are cast that is best for a re-ring, just do a good hone job and they should seat quickly.

I would agree that you should check the old rings in the bore, it is a good possibility that they are the wrong size.

By Ted - 16 Years Ago
XNoctemNacimur (2/23/2009)
Am I barking up the wrong tree with my diagnosis? could i have missed something?

Rerun the compression test on that low cylinder with some oil in the cylinder.  If the compression comes up, then rings are high on the list.  If the compression doesn’t improve significantly, then go back and look at the valves again.  I'm assuming the engine is not using any water?

By XNoctemNacimur - 16 Years Ago
Ted (2/24/2009)
XNoctemNacimur (2/23/2009)
Am I barking up the wrong tree with my diagnosis? could i have missed something?




Rerun the compression test on that low cylinder with some oil in the cylinder. If the compression comes up, then rings are high on the list. If the compression doesn’t improve significantly, then go back and look at the valves again. I'm assuming the engine is not using any water?




I've confirmed its leaking into the bottom end. when i pressurized the cylinder with compressed air. the air could be heard from the dipstick and oil filler. i even Pulled the valve cover to make sure it wasn't valves and guides.



I've also taken the head to the machine shop. they checked it out and said it's used but in fine condition for a daily driver.



besides that its torn apart now, to put it back together to re-do a compression test would be silly.
By Ted - 16 Years Ago
XNoctemNacimur (2/24/2009)
I've confirmed its leaking into the bottom end. when i pressurized the cylinder with compressed air. the air could be heard from the dipstick and oil filler. i even Pulled the valve cover to make sure it wasn't valves and guides.

I've also taken the head to the machine shop. they checked it out and said it's used but in fine condition for a daily driver.

besides that its torn apart now, to put it back together to re-do a compression test would be silly.

Agreed.  I posted that without remembering you were already apart.  Brain fade on my part.  Your diagnosis sounds good and rules out most other options.  At this point, the pricing on the parts to re-ring doesn’t sound bad and gets you back to square one on the bottom end.

And least I forget again, Welcome to the site.

By XNoctemNacimur - 16 Years Ago
cool, thanks a lot guys!